Basketball Australia is pleased to announce the ten athletes that will form the Under-25 Australian Devils and represent their country at the 2015 International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) World Championships.
Hosted by the Chinese Federation in the city of Beijing, the IWBF World Championships will be played from June 29- July 7.
Head coach David Gould provided some comments on the team.
“We are hoping to go one better than our 2011 result when we achieved silver,” he said. “With three girls returning for their second Under-25 World Championships, we have a mix of experience and youth. Amber Merritt and Sarah Vinci represented Australia at the 2012 Paralympics.
This squad also includes some exciting newcomers who have come through our development pathway such as Georgia Munro-Cook, Jess Cronje and Georgia Bishop-Cash.
“Our goal is always to have pressure from beneath. No one owns their spot in the team. We will have our last training camp over the weekend where will be working on our final preparation before heading to Beijing at the end of the month. “All the girls have been working extremely hard individually and as a team over the last twelve months and are looking forward to the challenge of taking on the world.” Coach Gould is pleased with the options available to him, such as a mix of height to pound the ball inside as well great spot-up shooters from the perimeter.
“We will have a very quick team to play up-tempo basketball in transition,” he said. “Our leadership group does an amazing job of setting our culture and standards on and off the court. By exposing as many of our ‘up-and-coming’ players to our standards now, we hope it holds us in good stead for the future.” Gliders Head Coach Tom Kyle added his views.
“This is an outstanding young group of female athletes,” he said. “Eight of the team are also members of our senior Gliders squad. I am really excited to see these girls play as they bring a mix of enthusiasm, speed and strength to the game of wheelchair basketball.”
The Australian Devils Under-25 squad: Natalie Alexander (WA), Georgia Bishop-Cash (NSW), Jessica Cronje (NSW), Hannah Dodd (NSW), Georgia Inglis (WA), Amber Merritt (WA), Georgia Munro-Cook (NSW), Catherine Nelson (NSW), Ella Sabljak (QLD), Sarah Vinci (WA)
